Chautauqua, United States, Feb 11 (EFE).- Author Salman Rushdie faced on Tuesday the man accused of nearly killing him and testified about the attack during the trial’s second day in upstate New York, United States.
Hadi Matar, 27, is accused of attacking and trying to kill Rushdie, 77, on Aug. 12, 2022, as he was about to give a lecture on the safety of writers, and has pleaded not guilty to attempted second-degree murder.
The Lebanese-American chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as he entered the courtroom Tuesday, as he did during Monday’s session.
Moments later, the Indian-born British-American novelist appeared in the room, dressed in a dark suit and gray tie, with a serious look.
It was the first time since the attack that Rushdie had been in the same room with the man accused of trying to kill him.
The stabbing attack
“I was aware of someone wearing black clothes, or dark clothes and a black face mask. I was very struck by his eyes, which were dark and seemed very ferocious to me,” Rushdie told the Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt.
A defense attorney immediately objected to the description, and Judge David Foley struck the answer from the record.
“Okay, not ferocious,” Rushdie corrected.
Rushdie told the court that he initially thought the attacker was hitting him, but then saw blood pouring onto his clothes as the attacker continued “stabbing, slashing.”
“It was a stab wound in my eye and intensely painful. And after that, I was screaming because of the pain and I couldn’t see out the eye,” the author said.
He was stabbed 15 times in the eye, neck, chest, and hand, resulting in the loss of vision in his right eye, some motor function in his left hand, and damage to his liver and intestines.
“It occurred to me that I was dying. That was my predominant thought” Rushdie said, adding that the people who subdued the attacker likely saved his life.
Matar also faces a charge of second-degree assault for wounding Henry Reese, who was conducting the talk with Rushdie that morning and who tackled him with the help of some members of the audience. Matar has pleaded not guilty to that charge as well.
The fatwa
The trial comes on the 36th anniversary of the Feb. 14, 1989, fatwa – an Islamic legal ruling – issued by the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for the death of Rushdie and those involved in the publication of his fourth novel “The Satanic Verses” for blasphemy.
In 1991, the Japanese translator of the book, Hitoshi Igarashi, was murdered, and the Italian translator, Ettore Capriolo, survived an attack.
Two years later, Norwegian publisher William Nygaard was seriously injured, and the book’s Turkish translator, Aziz Nesin, survived an arson attack that killed 37 people.
During Tuesday’s court session, Rushdie’s wife, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, sat in the second row and wiped away tears as she squeezed the hand of one of Rushdie’s friends.
On the prosecution table sat a copy of Rushdie’s latest book, “Knife,” a memoir in which he recounts the incident and how he has rebuilt his life since. EFE
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